as a partial truce continues to hold, the u.n. says it's trying to deliver aid to 150,000 people in syria. hello. welcome, you're watching al jazeera coming to you live from our headquarters here in doha. i'm peter dobbie. also in the next half hour. a period of relative calm in baghd baghdad shattered by a double bombing. a member of the catholic church

3:01 am

gives evidence. drink drive -- leonardo dicaprio takes home an oscar we start in syria where the u.n. is going to deliver aid to besieged towns. there is a lull in the fighting. the areas include these three. elsewhere they want to get aid here as well. there have been strikes in homs and idlib. continued breaches would make new talks unattainable. it says forces have attacked several rebel held areas using heavy artillery and barrel

3:02 am

bombs. to our correspondent now. as far as the air raids are concerned, not the potential air drops of aid, but the air raids, that's not a big surprise given that damascus was always reserving the right to go after the rebels and to go after i.s.i.l. as well. >> reporter: indeed, yes. bashar al-assad's government had said that it was going to exclude i.s.i.l. and one of the main opposition forces, al-nusra, which is linked to al-qaeda. the opposition says there have been several breaches in areas where neither i.s.i.l. or al-nusra are present and particularly in areas near aleppo as well as we've also heard in down south there have been attacks there as well as in idlib. now, the problem is that like you say, there has been a very kind of vague language that has been applied towards this truce and that's what's making these

3:03 am

breaches, if indeed they have occurred, because so far there is no independent body to adjudicate between the two warring sides, that's what is making this easy. they say they were targeting i.s.i.l. or al-nusra. a lot of people are hoping, particularly the syrian opposition, from a political perspective, that something can be done in order to ensure that there is a mechanism put into place that number one will monitor all these adelaide infringement-- alleged infringements and also have some policing mechanism because if this doesn't happen as the opposition has outlined and also the al lilies, this puts the ene deal judge jeopardy it makes the task of aid exceptionally difficult and equally dangerous. >> reporter: indeed. it's important to know that this war, particularly in recent

3:04 am

months, hasn't just been fought through the use of weapons and air force, but it has also been forced through the use of food. that's something we heard from the u.s. secretary of state john kerry where he accused the syrian regime of using starvation of a means or as a weapon of war. that is one of the big problems here because, firstly, like we say, the guns haven't gone totally silent because it is dangerous for the aid workers to deliver aid in much needed areas, but it also means that it could be in both sides, so far the evidence has been mainly against the syrian regime. in their interests to ensure that it does reach the area because that could be seen as a win for those rebels in those areas. that's that's making things so much more difficult for the average riflians who are stuck on this war which has gone on for five years. imagine how bad it is for those deep inside. all they want is just to have

3:05 am

some sort of peace and security to the point that some people told us they don't even want to live, they want to die in peace. it's that desperation, that means there has to be more done to ensure that the aid reaches all those hundreds of thousands if not millions of people stranded inside thank you. over the border in iraq i.s.i.l. fighters say they bombed a market killing at least 70 people. it was in a mainly shia district of capital baghdad. >> reporter: one of the bloodiest days iraq has seen in recent weeks. this amateur video captures chaos in the city moments after twin bomb attacks in a busy market. it is in a mainly shia neighborhood just north of the capital bag dald. the first bomb exploded on a motor psych em. as-- motorcycle. as people gathered to help another blew himself up.

3:06 am

hours before suicide bombers and gunmen attacked iraqi security force in belgrade. we can't verified these pictures. many were killed and in a western province military barracks were raid. i.s.i.l. is being held responsible for these attacks too. >> they still have the ability to do coordinated attacks that have the sort of spectacular results. i think we have reached a point over the last year and a half since they took over mosul in 2014 where they're no longer able to sustain an attack and capture territory. so i'm afraid for the short-term, perhaps, for the foreseeable future. we can see that they will lash out. >> reporter: the iraqi army is preparing an offensive to retake the northern city of mosul.

3:07 am

iraqi forces supported by coalition air strikes have driven i.s.i.l. back in recent weeks. >> translation: troops from the 71 of the brigade moved towards mosul. god willing, it will liberate mosul province, the peshawar forces and allies. >> reporter: violence in baghdad has decreased and many fighters were moved elsewhere. in 2015 a long running night time curfew in the city was end. it is a response to i.s.i.l.'s recent dweed. for the iraqi people, like those in the city, there is no sign the i.s.i.l. threat is diminishing. rob matheson we've made enormous mistakes and let people down. those are the word from cardinal george pell who has about become the highest relative joij

3:08 am

personnel to give-- religious person emto give evidence. >> reporter: taking the witness stand on the other side of the world. on sunday night cardinal george pell answered questions by a sex abuse commission in sydney via rome from a video link. he was a senior priest in his native ballarat and later the arch bishop of nearby melbourne from the 1970s to the 90s where tens of children's were abused by police. the commission wants to know whether he knew and why he didn't do anything about it. pell said he was too unwell to travel to australia to face the commission in person, a claim that sparked widespread outrage in a crowd funding campaign that raised more than $150,000 in a week to cover travel expenses to rome for 15 survivors. >> we're not here to intimidate

3:09 am

him or anything, but he has got to look at our faces, the ones who have been damaged by the clergy. >> i would love to see him stand up and say, we got this wrong. we didn't handle this well, but we can do better now. we can help the victims now. >> reporter: at 11 years old this man was abused by his uncle, a priest who has since been convicted of 80 counts of child abuse. he was the first survivor to speak out in 1993. he says cardinal pell knew both him and his abuser. >> pell, he was bishop pell then. he had been a family friend. i had known him since i was a child. i told him in the hope that he could help me in some way. he said to me, "what will it take to keep you are quietskwo? " >> reporter: he will give once a week until wednesday.

3:10 am

he is not facing criminal charges, but should the commission rule that he either ignored or protected abusers, they his could become unattainable live now to rome. steven woods is the spokesperson for broke rights, the organization researching the cover up of sexual abuse in the catholic church for more than 20 years now. welcome to al jazeera. the seal of confession is invaluable. are you expecting anything that approaches an admission of guilt from george pell? >> we have heard such stories about various religious beliefs that say that they can't expose what crimes have been covered, and quite frankly, if a religion came in and said we were going to rape and hurt children but we can't tell you about it, would a country accept that, would the

3:11 am

law makers allow that to happen? i don't think so. that's the thing that needs to change, especially with the catholic church given your organization and given your experience, when you see those pictures of george pell holding up the bible, more as a shield, it looks as if it is more of a shield than a beacon of honesty, when you see that, what goes on in your mind at that point? >> i actually thought to myself, i wonder if the bible would ignore night in flames in his hand. i've met george pell many times over my life. it is just amazing that somebody who claims to be a spiritual leader of society, a godly man, would allow such untruths and such lies to propagate and especially under his name. how could you let your legacy be so destroyed by such hid yous sex crimes against children

3:12 am

-- hideous what do you want, out of court settlements that may or may not be made in the future, obviously not enough. you're looking for an admission. do you want the church of rome to go beyond that? >> in australia at the moment there is a large push for the government to set up an australia-wide redress scheme and that's in the process of happening. the government, federal government in australia, says that they don't want to do it overall, but the tens of thousands of victims in australia declare that this needs to happen because there are so many people who are hurting and tragically taking atheir own lives because of the shame and the hurt that we've all gone through. it's now that money - that the church spends on lawyers, the fer oeshs amount-- large amount

3:13 am

of money spent on lawyers should be put towards helping the survivors actually survive and live lives that are meaningful. that is what we're saying now, we need to see action to help the tens of thousands of victims in australia for crimes that were known about. these paedophiles were known about why do you say tens of thousands of victims there. or four, a dozen scores, perhaps, that's the perception around the world. it occurs to me in you dip in australia, the more you get that out nationally, not internationally, but nationally the momentum of people coming forward continues to build almost. >> yes. that's right. we know that as the pedophile priest gerad ridgedale had

3:14 am

"hundreds of victims", and we know that in australia there has been over a hundred, maybe 130, pedophiles convicted so far in the last, say, 15 years. each of those will have had hundreds of victims, but there's also the victims and the sons, the daughters and the parents whose lives have been destroyed because their sons and daughters have been affected by these crimes that were known about and the church really defends itself with huge money and shapes laws in australia to hide and protect itself thank you very much. >> you're welcome still to come here on al jazeera, peru declares an emergency weeks after oil started pouring into two rivers. farmers in indonesia go hungry because of the el nino phenomenon. phenomenon.

3:15 am

3:16 am

>> our american story is written everyday.

3:17 am

it's not always pretty, but it's real... and we show you like no-one else can. this is our american story. this is america tonight. welcome back. headlining stories this hour from al jazeera. the aid operations, the people of syria is largely holding. in a letter opposition parties say continued breaches would make new talks unattainable. at least 70 people are confirmed dead following a suicide attack in a masht place in baghdad. i.s.i.l. bombers struck a busy shopping area in a mainly shia neighborhood on saturday. one of the vatican's highest ranking officials said the catholic church has made

3:18 am

enormous mistakes in dealing with allegations of child sex abuse. he is giving evidence that about abuse that took place in the 07s a man has been hanged in pakistan. he had been hailed as a hero by some pakistanis for killing a man five years ago. the governor of punjab was an outspoken critic of blasphemy la laws. early results show an overwhelming vote in the president in iran. moderates and reformests have won all 30 seats. it is a significant change from previous elections which were dominated by the conservatives. some ireland there are warnings of a lopping period of political deadlock and a possible second election.

3:19 am

the vote counting is continuing after the poll on friday. traditional heavy weights are facing disappointing results. the former political arm of the ira could become the main opposition in the irish parliament. north korea has presented a detained u.s. student in front of the media for the first time since his arrest in late january. he gave a tearful apology in front of the press in the capital pyongyang on monday. he was arrested after attempting to steal a political banner from a staff only area of an international hotel. he says a church back home wanted it as a trophy. but north korea says he has committed and anti state crime. they have released no detail of the charges he is now facing. a south korean opposition party has broken a world record by holding the longest speech during the sitting of a parliament. it is into its 7th day.

3:20 am

it is a tactic being used to delay a vote on a government backed anti terrorism law. if the legislation is passed it would allow the intelligence services to collect personal data on those suspected of posing a security threat. but the opposition argues the bill violates privacy rights and could be used to crackdown on political dissent. a crowd caused by diabetes drought-- drought caused by el nino has affected tim, r. >> reporter: this man tried to plant corn this year. most plants die because of the lack of water. planting season was delayed because monsoon rains started two months late. >> translation: this year rain only fell a couple of times. sometimes rain are heaviy but sometimes only drizzle and

3:21 am

sometimes it's cloudy and no rain at all. >> reporter: the weather phenomenon el el nino has badly affected the area. many parts of indonesia r ice has failed to grow. people have been waiting for rain for two months now. this won't be enough to save their crops. their corn plants should have been this high by now and food stocks are running low. this is all the corn she has left from last year's harvest. meals have already been cut and they're angry. >> translation: i'm worried about the coming months. worried that we will be really hungry because of this drought. >> reporter: the government says food is still spuft but experts are having doubts. >> translation: the government should closely watch food stocks right now to make sure that all their data is complete and if

3:22 am

necessary they should start handing out food supplies. where it is needed immediately. >> reporter: the national government has been asked for help. this man welcomes international organizations to assist if the situation worsens. they can only hope that help will arrive very soon peru has declared an emergency three weeks after the maybe oil pipeline burst. 3,000 barrels of oil has polluted rivers. more from the peruvian amazon. >> reporter: this man enters the river the way he always has done. there is a new danger here. a couple of weeks ago 3,000

3:23 am

barrels of oil burst out of a pipeline and into the main source of water and food for several indigenous communities. the government has told them they shouldn't eat fish from the river. it has hit families like this woman hard. they're survivor on ban ans and euka. >> translation: they're contaminating the forest more and more. my grandparents didn't have illnesses. the water is polluted. the fish are now sick just like the people. >> reporter: the brs pipeline belongs to state company. the man in charge of the clean up operation told us that the oil is almost all gon and the fish are now fine. >> translation: we say it is safe to bathe and you can each fish. the population don't trust us because they don't know the details. >> reporter: e-i asked if there

3:24 am

are studies. >> translation: the studies have been taken. we haven't got the results >> reporter: although he is quick to declare the river clean, the company has been accused of acting late. they are only providing food, water and specialist attention now weeks after the crisis which has affected more than 200 people's health. this is one of several who worries her child's bouts have fooer are connected to the spill. >> translation: i went to work and left her at home. when i came back i found her had gone to the river and was covered in oil. >> reporter: over the years they have had plenty of practice in dealing with their spills. the main pipeline was put together more than 30 years ago. the environmental group says the time has taken its toll. this is just one of three spills in less than a month. there is more. 20 spills in the last five years all on the same pipeline where

3:25 am

the lessons will be learnt this time is yet to be seen. john holman providing medical services to foreign countries is a big money maker for the cuban government. the ireland is looking to its northern neighbor in the next step to expand what's called a health tourism industry. a report from the capital city havana. >> reporter: riding a horse is strengthening the muscles in this boy's back. he has cerebral palsy and he is getting long-term treatment at this havana hospital. two strokes brought this man here all the way from ghana. he says in almost three months he has made great strides regaining his mobility. so far he has paid $10,000 for day in and day out physical speech and occupational therapy. >> we found that cuba had the

3:26 am

best value for money. they have maximised their usage. >> reporter: it sits on 17 hectares. the staff like to think of it as a hospital and a hotel. in its almost 20 years of operation, 52,000 people have come here to heal, primarily from canada, china and europe. people are not coming here for state-of-the-art treatment. the u.n. imposed embargo on cube has made it difficult for them to obtain sort types of equipment and medicine. the government says it has hurt its ability to market, specific listen to the u.s. but with ties expanding between the two countries, the cuba government has reason to feel optimistic. >> translation: it is a very important market, u.s., which has programs. >> reporter: we came across this group of americans touring the hospital >> we just wanted to know about

3:27 am

it and to see what was being done in cuba for myself and to understand it rather than making assumptions about it. >> reporter: whether there's an untapped american market remains to be seen. in the meantime, people such as this man and the boy may be the best advertisement for cuba's medical tourism industry. the hope is both will soon walk out on their own a movie about determined newspaper reporting is the surprise winner at the oscars. spotlight won best picture, beating the revenant which was the hot favorite. however the star of the frontier epic took the home award for best actor. we're talking about leonardo dicaprio. >> reporter: the oscar goes to. leonardo dicaprio.

3:28 am

>> reporter: they say good things to he who waits. leonardo dicaprio has certainly been waiting for this. five times before tonight me had come close. this was to be his night at last. in fact, the revenant took another big award too. >> the oscar goes to the inarritu. >> i can't believe this is happening. it is amazing to receive this award. >> reporter: no hat trick for his film. here is way. >> the oscar goes to. spotlight. >> reporter: this movie had been mooted as a big picture. it wasn't the favorite. it just goes to show you never can tell what's going to happen in hollywood. when it came to best actress, bri larson took that. she was happy to win but she

3:29 am

wasn't surprised. she was the hot favorite overall >> thank you for everyone who participated in room. thank you to all of you who saw it. >> reporter: mad max was also a big winner, six oscars for this movie. all eyes were on the host chris rock. the accusation of racism at the academy not far from anyone's mind. a subject that he was expected to touch on and not in a subtle way. for weeks there has been pressure on the kad may after the nominations were announced when they were all white. >> i counted at least 15 black people. >> reporter: hollywood's annual night of back slapping is over for another year. these oscars have been the most controversial in recent memory. that issue of a lack of diversity really over shadowing things. the big things now is will hashtag oscars so white be back

3:30 am

next year? you can keep right up-to-date with all our top stories via the website aljazeera.com aljazeera.com aljazeera.com aljazeera.com. i'm richard gizbert, and you are at the "listening post". the israeli government is looking at the media from inside